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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. hand — help
  3. net — for catching
  4. last — final
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. hand — in cards
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. last — finally
  12. last — to go on
  13. capital — a city
  14. file — a line of people
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. net — after costs
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. net — in sport
  19. capital — money
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. file — a tool
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. file — a document
  24. ruler — a monarch

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com